Louisville City FC goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh achieved a dream that spans two generations.

The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association announced on Thursday that it had called in Ranjitsingh to its 24-player squad ahead of a pair of World Cup qualifying matches against Guatemala and the United States in September, giving the Mercer University product his first senior international call-up.

“I think it’s a great honor to be called up by your county,” Ranjitsingh said in a phone interview. “It’s a great opportunity for me to take the next step of my career at the international level.”

Although born in Canada, Ranjitsingh is eligible to play for the Trinidad and Tobago national team by way of his father Andy, who is from the island of Trinidad.

“He’s so proud to see the last name on the back (of the jersey) and for me to represent where he was born,” Ranjitsingh said of his father. “They’re really excited. I had a lot of family back in Trinidad and called my dad and mom and let them know the news.”

Ranjitsingh has come from seemingly nowhere to now be one of the top shot stoppers in the United Soccer League. After being signed out of Mercer University 2015, a small Division 1 school in Macon, Ga., Ranjitsingh played just once in league play in his rookie season.

But since replacing the now-retired Scott Goodwin in net after Goodwin picked up a red card, Ranjitsingh has kept a vice-like grip on his position.

Since his season debut on April 27, Ranjitsingh has put together a record of nine wins, three losses, and eighth draws, including eight shutouts. The 23-year-old Ontario native has given up just 17 goals in 20 games, good for a 0.90 goals against average, the third-best mark in the league of goalkeepers who have played 20 or more games.

A couple of weeks ago, Ranjitsingh found out from T&T national team manager Stephen Hart that Hart was interested in calling Ranjitsingh up for the World Cup qualifiers camp. Last week, Hart provided confirmation of the call-up, but Ranjitsingh still kept it between himself and Louisville City FC coach James O’Connor until the roster was formally announced.

“I kept it under wraps until they released the squad and I got my flight,” Ranjitsingh said. “It’s real now.”

Ranjitsingh explained that while growing up in Pickering, a suburb of Toronto, due to his parents heritage (his mother is from Guyana), he grew up in a Caribbean culture. On Sundays, his parents would play reggae or soca music, and instead of a standard egg dish for breakfast, it would be a baked Caribbean meal.

In addition, as a child Ranjitsingh would travel with his family to Trinidad once a year, and many of his family members have made the trip up north to Canada to visit him and his parents.

“The food is different, the whole vibe is different,” Ranjitsingh said. “You hear the accent and I’ve been around it my whole entire life. I think I’ve inherited the Trinidadian culture.”

As a 13-year-old, Ranjitsingh was able to witness on television a seminal moment in Trinidadian and Toboggan soccer history, when the tiny dual island nation of approximately 1.34 million people qualified for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, their first World Cup.

The Soca Warriors, as the national team is affectionately known, earned a point in a scoreless draw with Sweden in their first game before bowing out of the competition with successive 2-0 defeats to Paraguay and England.

Having Trinidad and Tobago playing against the best nations in the world left an impression on Ranjitsingh.

“They had a legend like Dwight Yorke and to get a result against Sweden and a big performance from (goalkeeper) Shaka Hislop, it shows that there’s potential for someone in my position to do well on the big stage,” Ranjitsingh recalled. “I remember it vividly. It was a great time for the country, to have a group of players represent on the world stage.”

After missing out on each of the last two World Cups, Trinidad and Tobago are in great position to advance to the final round of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. A win on Sept. 2 against Guatemala would clinch a place in the Hexagonal round, where the final six teams in the region battle it out for up to four places in Russia.

As a new member to the squad, Ranjitsingh said he is hoping to take advantage of an opportunity to make good impression on the coaching staff.

“As a goalkeeper, it’s usually a position (with experience players) and I’m coming in at age 23 so I’m pretty young, but I want to show them a lot of my potential on the team," he said. "Whether I come to the camp and impress and start right away or they use me for the future, my goal is to show them what I can bring to the table.”